The 2000 Whistler Ski Trip

 

It was the best of times and the worst of times. This is a tale of two mountains, Whistler and Blackcomb and the twenty brave souls from BN Ski Club who went there December 9, 2000.

The load up on the bus in Fairview Park in Normal got the group off to a good start with all twenty people showing up on time and smiling. Why were they smiling so early in the morning you might ask, because Jan Prillaman brought champagne and orange juice for the trip to O’Hare? Does this girl know how to travel I ask you?

After stopping at a rest stop on the way up to Chicago we arrived at O’Hare and our volunteered luggage handlers unloaded the bus with great speed and agility. After a short wait in the Air Canada ticket line we were off to the first gate on the Air Canada concourse. Yes you seasoned travelers, the very first gate on a concourse. All my years of flying and this was my first time to leave from the very first gate. That joy was quickly dashed by the fact that our plane was going to be an hour late taking off. Curse you Red Baron. I quickly feared that we would run out of sunshine for the trip from Vancouver to Whistler; know as the "From the Sea to the Ski ". Those fears were soon to become a reality.

After a pleasant flight with good food and drink on Air Canada the twenty brave souls arrived at Vancouver International Airport in British Columbia, Canada. Being on the ground again and in a foreign country didn’t deter these courageous club members from asking the two most important questions after landing; where is the potty and has our trip leader figured out where we get our ski’s are yet? On ward and upward. After locating our ski’s we were off for an uneventful trip through Canadian customs and to our second bus ride for the day. This bus ride, unlike the first, was to be a most beautiful and enjoyable one as we ascended from the sea to the ski along the magnificent coastline of the Pacific Northwest. I neither have the vocabulary nor the space here to describe this incredible scenery. Everyone should see it at least once in his or her lifetime.

Its dark now and those 20 hardy souls are at the Tantalus Lodge (its really a condo) at Whistler Canada and once again they have but two questions on their minds, where is the potty and the nearest bar with food and drink? These people have their priorities straight don’t they.

After skiing Sunday and Monday on two very large and beautiful mountains we find our twenty partying souls at a birthday party for Jan Prilliman’s in her condo with Diane Hanley, Kelli Stoller and Joan Bielfeldt. The party was fun and the girls had food and a good selection of liquor to chose from. Jan had something going on with the moon, she keep running out on her deck looking at it, never did understand what it was. Oh well, maybe another good Canadian beer might help me to understand.

At 8:30 AM you would find most of our fearless group at either the Blackcomb or Whistler mountain gondola ready to head up the mountain for a day of good skiing or snow boarding. Boy that Scott Voorhees can burn up a slope with a snowboard; he can ski with me any day. Don’t let Bill Vahary gray hair fool you, he went by Scott and I one day while skiing on Whistler at sub-light speed and their for a minute I though he was Jean Claude Killy the way he negotiated a sharp turn at that speed and went on down the mountain. So sure that Scott and I would find Bill wrapped around a Douglas Fir tree down the mountain somewhere but atlas he was fine and in one piece at the ski lift. Said he was just in a hurry. Tom Crawford came skiing up to me one day on Whistler Mountain and did a perfect hockey stop. You have come a long way in your skiing ability Tom, keep up the good work.

Whistler isn’t just about having a ball skiing on two world class mountains, ask Denise Belanger and Mary Rodak about good skiing and instructors at Whistler for beginners. Denise said when the skiing gets tough the tough can always go shopping in many of the wonderful shops of Whistler. What was that shop with adult toys all about that I think everyone in our group made it in to?

Was that Malim Park coming out of Cow’s ice cream shop again with her breakfast for tomorrow? Mal Im said it is the breakfast of champions or something like that. After skiing a couple of days with Mal Im and trying to keep up with her incredible endurance maybe I to need some ice cream for breakfast. And speaking of endurance, don’t count Doug Weller out till you have tried to keep up with this fireball on the slopes for a day.

After all that endurance skiing trying to keep up with someone or another we find part of our tried but happy group in outdoor Jacuzzi basking in the warm of the stream coming off of it. It was about 20 degrees above zero and some of our group was making snow angles in the snow beside the Jacuzzi. Yes fellow club members you read that last line correctly, making snow angles in snow in their swimming trunks. No they were not drunk, ok they were working on it, but mostly they were having a lot of fun Hey, fresh powder and first tracks right, the dream of every mid-west skier. Ok maybe seeing who could roll over the most times in the snow before getting back in the Jacuzzi might have been a bit much for some and I am a big man and can admit that Scott Voorhees may of beat me by one ok, maybe two at the most. But hey who is counting right?

Thursday night brought with it new powder snow and the joy of doing what is called "First Tracks" from the top of the mountain. For a small fee and getting up real early a small group of us did ascend to Roundhouse Restaurant (about 7/8 up Whistler Mountain) by gondola and have a great buffet breakfast then before they open up the lifts to everyone else down below we got to be the first persons down the mountain in the new snow hence the name "First Tracks".

Its Saturday and of course it is snowing because it is time to leave Whistler Mountain and head down the mountain to Vancouver Airport for the flight back to Illinois. Our fearless bus driver drove our bus down a very snow laden twisting highway we arrive at Vancouver Airport. After the paper work, ticket counter, duty free store, and customs all twenty of us arrive at our Air Canada gate for departure.

An uneventful flight back to Chicago and we find our fearless international ski club members scurrying for their luggage and once again asking has our trip leader found where our ski’s come out yet and our bus driver for the trip to Bloomington?

The bus trip back to Bloomington was not for the faint of heart because from Dwight on down on Interstate 55 it was near white out conditions with the blowing snow and wind. Our near fearless bus driver pressed on and we arrived safe and sound back in Fairview Park in Normal. After a quick unload from the bus in freezing and howling winds our group jumped into their respective vehicles and went home.

The trip was over but the memories of two most beautiful and magnificent mountains and the little village called Whistler in British Columbia, Canada will surely live on in their minds forever.

 

Jim Hall

Trip Leader